Tattoo Economics

Ahh these frightfully uncertain economic times. No money, no jobs, no fun. This may be the case for many people, but while the lives of others go down the proverbial crapper, the life of one tattoo artist in particular seems to be going just fine.

Louisiana tattoo artist John Smith, or “Rock” as he’s professionally known, has seen such an increase in business recently that he plans on opening two more tattoo shops within the next month. That really is impressive, considering that US stocks recently plummeted to a 12-year low. Tattooing it seems, can still be a very lucrative business. While “Rock” attributes his financial success to “the grace of God” – his shop “Scaredy Tatts” cleared $7,000 in profits last week – I personally find it hard to believe that God used his magic to bring heaps of profits to a Louisiana based tattoo shop. I think the real reason for the success is simpler than all that. People want to feel good, art makes people feel good, the comraderie at a tattoo shop makes people feel good. That’s it. Maybe I’m over-simplifying things, but I don’t think so.

Another way of looking at all this is maybe things aren’t as bad as we all think they are? Or am I just being too upbeat in the face of a bad situation? Whatever the reason may be, I’m glad that more people are getting tattooed during these uncertain economic times. Even if we all end up out of work and tattooed, at the very least we’ll all be looking good.